Real estate professionals consider a market balanced when it has
a four- to six-month supply of homes, meaning it would take four to
six months to sell off all the houses available if no new listings
were added.

Kitsap had just a
2.15-month supply of homes in September. In other words, the
market would need about 1,000 more active listings or a
slowdown in sales to achieve some balance.

But even an incremental increase in supply could
be good news, as sales activity didn’t cool off all that
much in September.

Pending sales were down in the county from August to September —
as is typical for the season — but were up 13 percent from
September of 2015. The 448 deals closed in September marked a 15
percent increase from 2015.

Home prices remained elevated. The median price for houses
and condominiums sold in September was $284,999, a 10 percent
jump from last year.

Here’s a graphical look at Kitsap real estate trends.

And here’s a map showing real estate stats by submarket. Wave
your clicker over each area to see details:

The
already low inventory of homes continued to decline on October.
The 888 homes for sale were 30 percent fewer than in October 2014.
Here’s a graphical look at sales activity and listings through
October:

Some of these stores are spaced so tightly you’ll have to
zoom in to see them clearly:

As you can see, Rite Aid and Walgreens stores are close
neighbors in West Bremerton, Port Orchard and Silverdale. The
stores on Bainbridge Island will also be intimately situated
once the Walgreens there is completed.

In the year that followed, Washington recreational
marijuana businesses
recorded more than $250 million in gross sales,
generating $62 million for the state in excise taxes. Add in
other state and local taxes and the total tax bill topped $70
million.

Kitsap marijuana retailers, growers and processors
grossed about $5.75 million, generating $1.44 million in
excise tax, according to statistics made available by the Liquor Control Board. Nearly $5
million of gross revenue came from the retail side.

During the first year of sales, marijuana was taxed 25 percent
when sold between a producer and processor, another 25 percent when
sold to the retailer, and a final 25 percent when sold to the
consumer, resulting in an excise tax of up to 75 percent.

Kitsap County employers added jobs for the second straight year
in 2014, with hiring expected to accelerate through 2015.

Employment among the county’s residents, which has declined
steadily since 2008, showed signs of stabilizing.

We’ll look at both trends, starting with job creation in
Kitsap.

Jobs in Kitsap County

Employers are still digging out from the economic recession in
many sectors.

After years of local
job losses, the county is finally seeing gradual job gains,
according to data from the Employment Security Department.

There were an average of 85,100 jobs in Kitsap last year,
compared with 83,800 in 2013, a 1.5 percent increase.

The county is still about 2,300 jobs short of its 2006
employment peak.

Margaret Hess of WorkSource Kitsap said hiring activity was
noticeably improved last year. The WorkSource has been hosting
frequent hiring events with employers. Job openings at Puget
Sound Naval Shipyard drew a great deal of interest.

“We’re really positive,” Hess said. “Things are
looking up.”

Regional state economist Jim Vleming said he expects hiring to
accelerate in several sectors this year, including
construction and recreation/leisure.

The jump isn’t unusual, as companies tend to hire seasonal
workers during the holidays (the JCPenney in Silverdale, for
example, told me they brought on 70 employees before Black
Friday).

About 220 more people were listed as unemployed but actively
seeking jobs November. Kitsap’s labor force (the total number
of people employed or looking for jobs) grew by 2,450. The state’s
labor force also
grew significantly in November.

That’s a good sign to economists. If people are looking for
work, it usually means they’re optimistic they’ll find work.